Looking to set up a BBS on pi zero, advice? reddit / bbs ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Cantor2064 · 2020-01-30 06:33 This is pretty much in response to the recent lunduke video, and the fact i have a pi zero doing nothing. Then again part of me wants to go Further. 'Oh hey this thing has a BBS, but it's also serving gopher pages, and the BBS has mailboxes, and there's a mud right on the thing and-' Am I just falling into the trap of feature creep when I'm not even sure what i'll DO with the darned thing? Edit: It is also amusing to me that i'm on reddit asking for help with a BBS... the times we live in I guess. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- electronicchicken · 2020-01-30 16:45 If you want something you can tweak, customize, and extend endlessly, Synchronet is your friend. It is feature-creep incarnate. Plenty of people run it on various RPi models, so there should be no trouble there. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- YserviusPalacost · 2020-01-30 16:57 Are you new to the BBS scene, or an old veteran of the pre-AOL days? I used to run Synchronet on OS/2 back in the day, and was a node on FidoNet which meant we could communicate with people from all over the country and the world. It was a pretty big deal back in the day. Its still a niche community, and even emptier now that there's so many easier methods of communication and collaboration. But with all the ways that folks are tracked online these days, who knows, BBSes may see a rennaisance. Sure, landlines are out, but packet radio will take it's place. If nothing else, they're just fun to fiddle around with. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Cantor2064 · 2020-01-30 17:19 I didn't really get into computing til middleschool... right around when Yahoo started being a thing. At the time we'd kinda gotten to experiance BS's... sorta as a class (us making requests on where the teacher would buzz off to.) So technically 'of the era' but at that point in my life 'I WANT GRAPHICS!' (which is Ironic given I'm damned near blind.) So hadn't really had much hands on experience. In spite of my fascination with retro computing hadn't really messed with BS's or Gopher, and if I heard Lunduke right syncronet can do gopherspaces too. Which leaves me wondering if you can have the BBS connect to the gopher and the gopher talk to the BBS... and both alongside a web portal that points to both. As for 'BBS's making a comeback.' Just because it's old doens't mean its useless. My idea of a pi powered BBS that you can take wherever or have it accessible through the internet if the pi is online? Honestly appeals to my sensibilities and is something of an idea I'd had ever since egypt cut its internet off. At this point the web portal would be sorta important for anyone just connecting to know what's going on, and it's not exactly rural friendly. However for a con or a small group just kinda out and about. Especially paired with phone clients for passive skimming? Maybe i"m just pie in the sky. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Cantor2064 · 2020-01-30 17:20 So just ask questions in this subreddit or are there better places to go 'Hey I'm new i have no idea what I'm asking' type stuff. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- electronicchicken · 2020-01-30 18:27 If you go with Synchronet, the best place for support is DOVE-Net - particularly the "Synchronet Sysops", "Synchronet Discussion", and "Synchronet Programming" areas. [Join DOVE- Net](http://wiki.synchro.net/network:dove-net) once your BBS is set up and you can ask questions there. If you like IRC, we have #synchronet on irc.synchro.net. You won't always get a response right away, so I only recommend using this if you want to leave an IRC client running and check in once in a while. /r/synchronet is also a thing, but fewer people read it, so you'd have better luck with the above options. There is a Yahoo! group. Please don't use it. Just ... please don't. "Official" support channels and guidelines are detailed [here](http://wiki.synchro.net/howto:support). ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [deleted] · 2020-01-30 21:16 [removed] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Cantor2064 · 2020-01-30 21:38 I was considering effectively ripping off how the piratebox does their capture portal, but at the same time maybe there's a better solution? Food for thought since either a static webpage or a tiddlywikithat offers up information would be good (though the static page would be far faster and cheaper bandwidth wise.) Now that i knwo the basic concept SHOULD work (I'm going to try it on a zero W so... I dunno?) May be time to see if a mud would work alongside a syncronet bbs since 'hey why not? Can you get a mud/MUSH/ETC as a door the BBS can directly link to and then get linked back from? :thinking: Probably outside of the scope of this forum. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- nolageek · 2020-01-30 21:44 I've been working on such a thing; a portable BBS run on a raspberry pi that you can take with you in a backpack to a con, or wherever. I'm glad you mentioned this, it'll give me motivation to work on it again. I have it pretty much working, except for the captive portal aspect of it. I'll work on it tonight and will post what I have so far, and will try to get some documentation as well. I've tried it on the Raspberry Pi 2b with a Wifi dongle, and the Raspberry Pi 3b+ with built in Wifi and it works flawlessly out the box. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- nolageek · 2020-01-30 21:50 Piratebox was exactly my jumping off point as well. I have it completely working now, except for the captive portal popping up the start page automatically - you currently have to go to a static IP address in order to bring up the synchronet page with the ftelnet login. Telnet works as well, once you connect to the adhoc network. It has several javascript doors running natively (including LORD and Tradewars.) I didn't mess with any DOS based stuff but could add something like DoorMUD. The biggest caveat is that as great as they sound, none of the mobile telnet clients work great on a phone. The keyboard gets in the way and it makes it very cumbersome to navigate or read/reply to messages. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- doctorfastin · 2020-01-31 19:16 Have you looked at MysticBBS software? I have it running on my Pi for local network testing. Have not poked a hole in the router to allow mail or internet users yet. Pretty turnkey. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- denzuko · 2020-01-31 19:55 \+1 to this, plus Mystic can do some really great scripting and fun stuff with the menu system. Fairly easy to get on fidonet too. Personally though I'd suggest also running zerotier-one on the pi instead of opening ports in the router. It's what I do for 1:124/5017.2-9 and only have 80/443 open to the internet with a ftelnet embedded. Got a lot of infrastructure in place to protect web servers so instead of setting up vpns, vlans, or poking holes into the router it's just easier to use zerotier as my sd-wan with their earth and my own networks. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Cantor2064 · 2020-01-31 20:40 I just saw that while prodding about and that honestly looks kinda nice. I only mentioned synchronet because 'oh hey lunduke brought it up as linux native.' Still in the research phase. Doesn't help i'm also looking at wanting to build a mud on the thing.... no real reason than 'because i can' really.